Teresa Kaepernick is the woman known around the world as the mother of controversial NFL star Colin Kaepernick. However, Heidi Russo, the biological mother of the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, is at the center of his life and yet very far away.
Because she hasn’t been in Colin’s life, she’s not one of the people associated with him on his journey, either privately or publicly. Nevertheless, here are six important things you should know about him:
1. personal life
There is not so much known about the personal life of Heidi Russo except that in 2018 she would be 49 years old. She works as a nurse and, according to her Twitter account, she co-founded Linked Thru Love alongside Jami Marcantonio in order to challenge the stigma and stereotypes of birthmothers and spread awareness of the idea of adoption.
2. Heidi Russo is Colin Kaepernick’s biological mother.
On November 3, 1987, Heidi Russo gave birth to Colin Kaepernick in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At 19 at the time, she was not yet married when she got involved with the father of the footballer who abandoned her after her pregnancy.
3. She gave her son up for adoption
Months before giving birth to Kaepernick, Russo spent a lot of time debating whether to raise him or give him up for adoption. One of the things that made the situation a little more complex for the teenager at the time was that the man responsible for her pregnancy only left a photo and she walked away after learning that she was going to have a baby.
A few weeks after the birth of her son, who became the face of resistance to so many people, Heidi decided to give him up for adoption. She was introduced to Teresa Kaepernick and her husband, Rick, by a mutual friend and they decided they wanted to have the child.
At the time, the Kaepernicks already had two children, a son and a daughter; Kyle and Deon Kaepernick and they lost two more babies to heart defects. It was six years before the couple who wanted to have more children decided to bring Colin.
Before Heidi Russo gave up her young son for a better life, she thought her parents were ready to support her and if she decided to keep the baby, however, she decided not to keep him.
4. She wants to have a relationship with Kaepernick
Since her son’s abandonment in 1987, she had been in contact with the adopted family and they continued to send pictures of the young boy until he was around seven years old when they lost contact. Much later, she would strive to nurture a relationship with him, but it didn’t come easy for her as the NFL player didn’t back down.
Nonetheless, she still followed his sports while he was still playing and even went to some of his games.
According to her, she always had him on her mind and always regretted letting him go for adoption, but she thinks it was the best decision she could have made for him because she wasn’t. able to give her the kind of life she wanted.
5. Russo now has other children
Besides Colin, Heidi also has other children. Michael, Ethan and Alex. Although there is little information about the children, it is known that she is already married.
6. She took to Twitter to express her displeasure with Colin Kaepernick
During Kaepernick’s controversial time kneeling during the national anthem to protest the oppression of black and minority people, everyone wanted to have a say, and so did his birth mother. Russo took to Twitter to tell the NFL star that she thinks there are plenty of other ways to change without being disrespectful and shaming your country and your family, two things that stand out to him. had won many blessings. She ends up advising him to be more intelligent and respectful.
Of course, while many supported her, many others also criticized her for taking to a public platform to speak to him.
What makes this even more interesting is that as she decided to reprimand him, his parents were very supportive and went so far as to release a statement, saying they were with him when reports claimed they did not support his actions.